Intl norms needed to safeguard cyberspace: experts

Former US spy agency contractor Edward Snowden's revelations of widespread snooping by his country's security authorities have stirred a fresh round of finger-pointing on cyber issues on the world arena.

The quarrels, like a fever, sometimes are not a bad thing. They raise the alarm bells towards the urgency to address the root cause of the problem -- in this case, a lack of international norms to govern the cyberspace, said experts participating in the World Peace Forum 2013 in Beijing on June 27-28.

They also warned the scale of cyber theft is so large to the extent that it hurts national interests of many countries where the Internet has become an important infrastructure playing a significant role in such fields as economy, social development and national defense.

Many countries are becoming increasingly vulnerable to cyber attacks, former US ambassador to China J. Stapleton Roy said, noting the issue has become a focus of a large number of governments around the world.

Besides, cyber security has become a major irritant in several bilateral relations, hurting mutual trust and friendship between countries, Roy said.

Chen Xiaogong, a member of Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress, described cyber space as a new battle field, cautioning that if countries should allow cyber arms race to take place, it could cause consequences worse than a nuclear war.

Acknowledging the urgency to contain the disordering of the cyberspace and set up relevant international norms, experts also expressed optimistic over the world community's ability to do so.

Experts noted that China and the United States, the world's two largest economies, have put the issue of cyber security on top of their cooperation.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Barack Obama highlighted the importance of cyber security in their summit earlier this month in the US state of California.